May 30, 2001
Memphis Shock vs Arirang
This was our first game as champions. We got a bye in the division tournament, and were playing Arirang in the semifinals. This team had given us fits in the other 2 games that we played them. The first game they walked off the field with just minutes left in the game with us about to take a penalty kick, and the other game drawing at 1-1. So we knew we were in for a fight. After some heavy rain earlier in the day, we thought the game would be rained out. Due to the great field work of the grounds crew, the fields were actually fairly dry, not wet at all. Conditions were a little muggy, but not hot.
We started the game off with 2 subs. 2 other players had prior plans and our last one has been AWOL a few weeks ago. Having not played in the past 2 ½ weeks there were thoughts of possibly being rusty. We started off a little rusty, but that went away pretty quickly. 15 minutes into the game Arirang got an apparent goal off of a corner kick, but sometime during the kick one of their players got offside and the ref called it just before they knocked the ball in.
In the next 10 minutes we had a couple of chances on goal. The first one was on a cleared ball out of the back from Jordan. He passed it up the side to Nathan who sent it up to Dennis. Dennis then slotted the ball between 2 defenders to the right to Ryan. Ryan ran the ball down and one timed a shot that hit the side netting. The other time was when Sharp sent a ball from the right side of the field that went over the keeper’s head making it anyone’s ball. Nathan was streaking in from his position and just barely missed centering the ball into the box.
Roughly 33 minutes into the game, Arirang got a gift. Chris was marking his man tight, when the player had no choice but to go to the outside. Chris slid from the side and got all ball, actually stopping the ball. The Arirang player took an Oscar worthy dive. He got his Oscar awarded for Best Dive In A Soccer Game when the ref called for a pk. So after Chris had blown his top, the Arirang player stepped up to take the pk. On the kick, Baxter knew which way he was gonna go. Baxter was all over it but the ball squeaked just underneath his body and trickled over the goal line. Arirang up 1-0.
We nearly got the goal back off of a corner kick. Bishop took the corner from the right. Ryan had a radar on the ball for a header but the goalie jumped up and punched it out of the box inches from Ryan’s head. With no more than 3 minutes left in the half we got the equalizer. From a weak punt, the ball went straight to Sharp. He settled the ball and then passed it off to Cam in the middle. Cam took one dribble and then fired the ball from 35 yards out. His shot went up and over the keeper and dipped just below the cross bar. Tied 1-1.
At half we were having fun and joking around. We wanted the win but would’ve been happy with a tie since we knew we had the upper hand in a shoot-out with Baxter in goal. We said we should stop jabbing at the ball and just contain.
The 2nd half play really opened up compared to the first. Both teams were running all around the field. Both teams were also hustling to every ball. We were winning more of the free balls. Our play really picked up this half. In the early minutes of the 2nd half Bishop was bringing a ball down the right side of the field. His shot from the side looked like it was going into the goal. The goalie jumped up and just caught the ball. With up and down action, both teams got a few chances on goal. Both keepers were making some pretty good saves. One opponent slipped through our defense and took a shot on goal that Baxter stopped point blank.
About 30 minutes into the second half Arirang won a corner kick. Off of the kick one of their guys jumped over our defense and headed the ball to the right of Baxter for a goal. Arirang up 2-1. At this point our mid’s were pressing up farther to help out the forwards. Arirang dropped back an extra midfielder to combat this. Sharp made a handful of runs down the right side that would’ve made Winters smile. 5 minutes after the bad guys took the lead we got another good shot on goal. Sharp sent a ball in from the right and Dennis redirected the header to the top left corner. The goalie jumped and made a stretching save inches from the goal line. This last play showed just how much the luck of the draw was in Arirang’s favor. Bishop was cutting up the middle and sent the ball up to Nathan. Nathan was going for the pass and just clipped the ball. The keeper came sliding in feet first. The ball ended up going through Nathan’s legs, nicked off a defender, rolled straight to the keepers hands. How much more unlucky can you get when the keeper is on the ground and beat? A few minutes later the ref blew the whistle to end the game with the Shock losing their first D4 game of the year.
Even though we lost we still played a hard fought game. This was a good game on both sides of the field. We were hustling and winning more free balls that were bouncing around. We have nothing to be ashamed about. I would take us playing like this any day of the week. Sure we might not make it to the finals, but we are still D4 Champs. Our defense played a great game, being on their players like white on rice. Midfield did a great job having to run up and down the fields. More in the second half with the open play. Forwards did a great job also pressuring the goal when they had the chance. And in goal, Baxter did a wonderful job as usual. Hopefully it won’t be Baxter’s last game back there for us. If it is, he gave us a great run in goal. He will be extremely hard to replace.
Well, season’s over. We ended up 8-1-2 in D4 play, 8-2-2 overall. The talent we picked up this year has been awesome. Not everyone got on the board as far as points or goals, but everyone did contribute and I hope they know that. The only injury we had was Micah with tendentious in his leg. He only missed a few games and came back just as strong. As it stands, we are looking to have nearly the same team in the Fall as we have now. With a second winning season in a row we hopefully wont have a mass exit for “better teams” that saw only 1 out of 3 teams that last seasons players went to that have a winning record. We are looking forward to D3 and eager to play again.
See you in the Fall!!
Dennis Thompson
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